Category: Let's talk
How do you feel after finding out from a report that 70% or more of the blind and visually impaired people are unemployed? Did it bother you or were you okay with it?
How could anyone possibly be ok with it? Just read the static over again. 70 percent of blind or visually impaired people in the US don't have jobs. Why is that? Discrimination is a big factor of course, there are probably a lot of employers out there who'd rather not hire someone who can't see, even though that person might be very well educated and highly qualified for the job in question. Making our potential employers aware of what excellent workers we'd make is one effort we blind Americans should continue to consider a top priority. But sadly, employers aren't entirely to blame for this. How about lack of motivation, education, or aplicable skills? How many of you have been told you can't do something by a sighted person, that what you wanted was impossible or impractical because you couldn't see? And how many of you have just given up right there? Plenty of us I'm sure. And how many of us remain in low-paying, unskilled jobs when we clearly have the potential to move upward in the labor world? There are a lot of reasons why so many of us are unemployed. We have to keep working, chipping away at that statistic one person at a time, showing the sighted world what we're capable of and proving to ourselves that we can be productive, self-sufficient members of society.
agree wholeheartedly with the last post.
How do I feel? Well, I feel like that statistic changes every time a different organization or agency reports it. In other words, I'd really like to know what the true stats are, and how detailed they are. So, if anyone has them available, please post them.
Yeah, I've been hearing that 70 percent stat for years now. You'd think it'd change at least a bit over time.
I wonder where and who they are getting that information. a lot of people who are blind are elderly and most likely retired. Hopefully, they're not counting them. That number seems kind of high to me.
Good point Jeannie, I hadn't thought of that.
A few things to realize here before we all jump all over "these lazy-ass blind people who would rather take from the Government, than be productive members of society." First of all, if you're including ALL blind people, that's where it's wrong. Like a previous poster said, lots of blind people are elderly, but also qere are blind people with oqer disabilities such as autism, developmental delays, severe epilepsy, severe cerebral palsy, severe emotional disturbance. Having these disabilities on top of being blind is definitely something that could impair one's ability to get a job, much less a high-paying one. Another thing I'd like to mention here is the fact that many blind people live in rural areas, (like myself), where lack of transportation makes it almost impossible to get a full college education, much less a job. Some of us, like sighted people have children, and cannot work outside the home because of lack of accessible daycare centers or just the desire to raise qeir children full time. Now that online jobs are becoming more possible, that statistic may change. However, that same stupid 70% statistic has been thrown in my face since I was a young teenager. It doesn't make me want to get a job, I'll tell you that much. It makes me angry that blind people see other non-working blind people as lazy asses who don't wanna contribute to society. Well, maybe some of us are, but maybe some of us have damn good reasons why we are currently choosing not to work. So, get the facts straight before you come off on someone whose not working.
it bothers me so much that the blind and visually impaired are discrimanated. i think we could improve that by being persisstant and show employers that we can do so much more, however, that is easier said than done.
I've heard that the 70% figure is of the employable blind. not the overall blind community. discrimination is a major factor. I would also say that transportation, and education are contributing factors as well. I'd like to see the difference between the unemployment rate of a person that has been blind from birth versus someone that has been become blind later in life. It's my belief that people blind from birth would have a much higher employment rate, since they have more skills. The amount of time it takes an adult to learn braille and other adaptive techniques is several years.
There are always going to be exceptions. There are times, though, that I wish that I had a head start and was taught these things in my childhood, but there was no sign of my eye disease back then.
Good luck to everyone looking for employment, There is something for you out there, and don't underestimate your abilities.
Whether this statistic is true or not it does underline problems with blind education, work access and, possibly, motivation (although I'm not saying it's the major factor, it could be a contributing factor).
Firstly I've noticed that it's hard for blind students to get through college for practical reasons. Books are often inaccessible, students get them weeks after course has started, there is still a lack of accessible software for math, stats etc that can equally print to braille and in print (although LaTex, math ml and other standards hold a great promise for change, it's still not developed enough to go far beyond the promise stage though), I got through college with extensive assistance from readers and visual interpreters and a lot of work, it was enjoyable but without excellent support from our disbilities office I'm not sure I could have done it.
I'm not saying all blind people want to get into science but it's a relatively employable field, it's very enjoyable and it's the field I know best.
I'd like to see organizations really get together and come up with better standards and link up with publishers to make science books availible much more quickly in braille so that the blind student has a chance at keeping up.
There's always the public transortation issue. I don't believe in transport system specifically for the blind, it's not overly reliable (given my experience) needs constant reservations, gives little or no flexibility etc. Thus, blind people would benefit hugely from access to public trnasportation. How that is to be achieved, I'm not sure. May be blind organization or the state could sponsor rent of apartments in the urban areas with access to public transortation (since living in such places is often much more expensive than a more rural setting).
I don't know how U.S. Social Security Income works, but in Europe it is cut off way too quickly once one starts earning money and, in some cases, one is better off, financially, ot to work than to work. I think that's really bad, people should not be punished for working, they should always benefit from it, so I think the system needs to be restructured. In Denmark part of your payment goes to your employer for the first 6 months as part of your sallary and training expenses, you get another part of it so it does not completely disappear. I think that's a pretty good idea.
Of course there are lazy blindies, those who choose to stay at home, be parents etc. But that's true for every segment of the population, this ratio should not be anywhere near 70% though.
I think there's a need for fundamental change in approach on many levels, I don't foresee it happening overnight. I hope though that in the next 10 or 20 years we might see a more concerted effort between politicians, technology companies and groups such as the AFB to make independent living and careers possible.
Cheers
-B
I think you raised a couple of really interesting points in that last post.
Now being at the end of a 3 year university degree, I would certainly support the statement that access to materials is one of the key issues which could
be holding people back. I didn't have great support, and spent the last few years doing what felt like fighting constantly, just to be gifted with the
things which my sighted cohort counterparts took for granted. For example, a new web-based learning strategy excluded me from discussion groups, adequate
preparation for presentations which counted towards the degree mark, and pertinent revision information for final exams. The system was inaccessible, and
the university, because it was a widespread and well implemented system, were unwilling to change this.
The second point I agree with is the withdrawal of social support. The system you speak of, where you are still supported for the first 6 months, sounds
like a better constructed one than what we have in the UK. Now that i'm qualified, if I ever manage to get one of the rare as gold dust physiotherapy jobs
available here, I would lose all social support immediately. All new medical jobs usually start on a years' contract so, even if I was successful with
the applications, it isn't guaranteed for more than a year of income. After that year, if there are no job openings for advancement, which, in my field
is all too common, I become jobless. In the few months that it would take me to gain employment, I have nothing to fall back on; no housing support, no
income, no way of paying for transport to difficult-to-find areas. Yes, I know that this is also true for sighteds who become unemployed, but they can easily secure temporary jobs. They also don't have quite the same financial burdens, what with having to purchase alternative format books, etc.
Motivation too is a key factor. Depending on the way someone was raised, they may have absolutely no desire to work, finding it easier to subsist on the state. In particular, it may affect the slower of us blind people. For example, if it takes you an eternity to make dinner, and you spend most of your day performing the household chores that take others 1 or 2 hours, then you may not feel as though you could cope with that on top of a working schedule.
I definitely think that descrimination is still present, and is in fact very prevalent in the health care system believe it or not. But, in spite of all of the negative factors, I don't think that I could function without work. I haven't been required to attend lectures for 5 days now, and i've already got cabbin fever, despite going about my daily routine. Thankfully, I have a bit of a break from my clinics too, so have no patients to destroy the tedium of a stay at home gal. I couldn't live like that indefinitely... I'd go mad!
FM
I have seen this 70 percent for at least 15 years now. but no one says what it really is. May be some can't work? May be they are blind and to old to work? the main question in my mind should be, how many blind or visually impaired are there with in working age say 21 to 65 that are not working? Just some thoughts about this topic. And yes its sucks we have to fight so damn hard!!
Your thoughts and views on this topic really made me think. So much so that I thought I'd see if we can get a more accurate idea of what the situation is. I have started a board called "70%: True or False" (under Let's Talk) which is a survey on this subject. I started a new board so that the discussion about the report could stay separate from the Zone's figures.
Enjoy!